Monday, November 30, 2009

Feeling the pinch this holiday season? Here's a beautiful art project to easily craft. With a lot of pipe cleaners, a pair of scissors and a little patience, you can create your own masterpiece of lightness and design.

Make a wreath of green and red to hang on your door, or in front of a mirror. Try a silver design near a dark painted wall. Or maybe a graphic statement in black pipe cleaners on a white wall.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

If you're already a fan of green roofs, green walls seem a logical next step. But creating a vertical garden that stays where it's intended to, is considerably more challenging. That, of course, is what makes it so interesting.

Living walls are fascinating outdoors and in. It's magical to enter an interior space with a green wall. As you get closer you can't help but feel healthier. The planted wall is reducing the CO2 while adding oxygen to the room. All that good energy and it is visually enchanting, too.

Here's a New York Times article on edible walls and here are more examples of living walls.

Monday, November 16, 2009

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, we are getting stuffed with recipe ideas and images of table settings and seasonal decorations in all forms of media. Equally as important is holiday food safety. I wanted to share this clip I just learned of today. I hope you'll find it interesting. It's part of a Holiday Food Safety Success Kit put together by the non-profit group Partnership for Food Safety Education.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Countdown to Christmas with a personalized Advent Calendar. Here are a few beautiful ideas to get you started. Carrying on with our matchbox theme - start with 24 matchboxes, cover in holiday patterns, number the ends in different styles and glue them together somewhat erratically, then fill with tiny surprises.

Collect two dozen envelopes in holiday colors, apply gold self-adhesive numbers, tuck in little notes of holiday memories and string on a bulletin board or across a window.

Wrap small boxes of chocolates or sweets in holiday paper, add bows and embellish with round numbered tags to display on a tiered dessert stand.

Collect messages of hope from family and friends and wrap in ribbons with small numbered tags and then pin onto a long wide ribbon.

Gather baby socks in bold patterns and number with stickers or iron-on patches to hang in a swag with mini clothes pins and stuff with tiny treats.

Recycle old holiday card images to fill the windows on the charming house template from here.

The top four images are from BHG.com, the bottom two images are from marthastewart.com.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Maybe it's my attraction to diminutive things and maybe it's the economy, or what my grandmother referred to as living through the Depression, but matchboxes offer so many possibilities. Sure, they are handy for lighting candles or starting a stubborn pilot. They are also cute little containers just waiting to be upcycled and restarted.

Here are a few examples to inspire your own little matchbox world.

Martha shows how to create a mini advent calendar from 24 matchboxes decorated on both ends. As each numbered box is removed and reinserted backwards, a holiday tree is revealed.

A Tiny Traveling Doll's House is thoughtfully refurbished inside and out at Coloured Buttons.

Top: B is for Baby, a lovely book of gifts to make for new ones, shares this sweet announcement idea in a matchbox via Craft Stylish.